


Future Lessons

by ReneeoftheStars



Series: Teyla Marin and Gida Tiatkin [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 11:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13029684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars
Summary: Force visions are very difficult to master, as Padawan Teyla Marin is beginning to learn. Even with the guidance of her Master, Sifo-Dyas, her understanding of them seems to be just out of her reach. Meanwhile, Sifo-Dyas glimpses unsettling visions concerning the future of the Republic.





	Future Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tumblr blog finish-the-clone-wars's writing Wednesday prompt: Foresight

Sifo-Dyas seemed uncertain with her request.

“Seeing the future is not as simple as you describe it, Padawan,” he said slowly. “And it is rarely as straightforward as we would like.”

“But the dream about King Melonael came true,” Teyla argued. “If I’ve got the ability, why shouldn’t I hone it? There’s no one in the Order better to teach me than you.”

They sat in their normal meditation space, on slabs of cool rock behind a miniature waterfall. The Force thrived in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, inhabiting every tree and plant that grew there. Teyla found it grounding, relaxing; it was the greenest and most natural place in all of Coruscant. She leaned forward eagerly, with her hands folded and braced in her lap. She sat cross-legged, since that was the best she could manage for a restful meditating position; each time she tried to sit on her knees like her master did, her legs fell asleep.

Sifo-Dyas still seemed doubtful. “Many Jedi experience a handful of visions throughout their lives. Developing a strong enough connection in the Force to see events that have not yet happened takes decades.”

“Might as well start now, then,” Teyla countered.

She thought for a moment that her Master might chide her, but instead, a smile broke out on his face. “I believe your Force sensitivity might be better suited for other applications, but a rudimentary understanding of foresight would not be amiss.”

The elder Jedi hummed softly to himself as he considered what to say. He removed his boots, rolled up his pantlegs, and put his feet in the water. The pool that collected the waterfall was deceptively deep, and the water lapped around Sifo-Dyas’s knees. He sighed and considered the spilling water, still humming. Teyla waited.

“The first thing to understand about seeing the future,” he said, eyes still trained on the waterfall, “is that the visions are without context. One has no way of knowing when the event will take place, or where, or why. When you saw the King being threatened by his guard, we were able to infer that it would take place in the evening by the way the sun came in through the window behind the King. Such clear clues are rare in visions. The fact that it happened later that very day was a mere stroke of luck – it could easily have happened at any point in the future.”

Teyla frowned. “Do you believe in luck, or don’t you? You’ve told me there’s no such thing, but then you talk about it as though events can happen by accident.”

Sifo-Dyas smiled. “Seeing the future is the one circumstance that I believe in luck. Luck in being able to interpret it correctly. It does not matter how wise a Jedi is, or how many visions they’ve seen through to completion. There are too many factors that can interfere with a correct understanding of the vision.”

“So how do I start?”

“So eager to delve headfirst into something you don’t fully understand.”

“It’s one of my specialties.”

That earned her a laugh, and Sifo-Dyas clapped her on the back. “A specialty you need to learn to keep in check. Now then. If you feel prepared?”

Teyla nodded and closed her eyes. Willing her mind to be quiet, she expanded her perception. After a few minutes, she felt connected to everything in the room, as though every stem and root and droplet were an extension of herself.

Sifo-Dyas’s voice wove into her trance. “You have become very capable of reaching out with the Force to those immediately around you. To see the future, you must open yourself not only to things in the present, but to all that may be. It is a wide scope, and as such, you must cast a wider net of perception.”

After an hour, Teyla finally had to admit that her efforts had been in vain. Frustrated, she swatted a stray stone into the water. “I don’t understand. Why’d I have a vision when I wasn’t even trying, but now that I’m trying, it won’t happen?”

“Visions of the future do not appear on demand. Do not be discouraged, Padawan. As I said, it takes decades to master the skill. The Force reveals its knowledge to us when it chooses.”

“And then what?”

“Then, what we do with the knowledge is up to us.”

Teyla drew her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. “Is the future predetermined, then? The visions will happen no matter what we do?”

Her master considered the question. “In my experience,” he said slowly, “prophetic visions always play out how I see them. However, the result is often different than I initially believed. I once had a vision of a fellow Jedi trapped beneath rubble. I tried to have them avoid the government building that I saw collapse, but it turned out that when that first detonator went off, it began a chain reaction that destroyed the shop they were in.”

“So it can’t be changed,” Teyla said. She stared at the ripples in the water, troubled. “Once you see something, it can’t be avoided.”

Sifo-Dyas laid a hand on her shoulder. “Foresight is a great responsibility.”

“Maybe too great for me,” she admitted.

“There is no shame in that,” he replied kindly. He gave her a gentle push. “Go now and get something to eat. We’ll be reporting to the Council this evening.”

Teyla stood. “Are you staying here?”

“To mediate a while more, yes. I feel compelled, and it is best I follow the feeling.”

Mind heavy with thoughts of the future, Teyla bowed and left.

 

*                             *                             *

 

Sifo-Dyas watched his Padawan go and felt a twinge of doubt. The topic of foresight was something he had not been prepared for Teyla to ask about, and even now, he felt his answers had been inadequate. He closed his eyes and relaxed, hoping to meditate on how best to instruct his eager apprentice. He felt a sense of pride; she would be a great Jedi someday.  

Withdrawing his feet from the water, Sifo-Dyas knelt and opened himself to the Force. He rooted himself to the room and then expanded, encompassing the Temple, the district, and then the entire planet. But he didn’t stop there. Reaching out, he cleared his mind and –

_Blasterfire shoots through the vacuum of space as massive ships attack each other above Coruscant. Modified Jedi fighters spin through the air, dodging droids that hurtle towards them. Cruisers burn and vent atmosphere, sucked down into the exosphere–_

_A colossus droid factory churns in a molten cavern, sparks flying as mechanical limbs piece together millions of lethal droids. The finished droids line up, row after row after row marching towards waiting ships, grasping weapons –_

_Swarms of battle droids rushing forward to meet an army of raging Wookies, cannonfire making craters in the sandy beach –_

_And some dark power, some shadowy figure rising above them all, cackling, extending an arm and casting a darkness that envelopes world after world –_

Sifo-Dyas leapt to his feet, hand flying towards his lightsaber. He stayed his hand, but he still heard the _clomp, clomp_ of metal feet and creaking joints, the shrieks of blasterfire, still saw planets swallowed by the darkness. His limbs trembled, sweat beaded his brow, and he drew ragged breaths. He stood there, shaking, water spilling around him as he realized there was no mistaking that the vision was without uncertainty, unflinching. There was no way to misinterpret its message, and cold dread settled in his heart as the Force – for the first time in all his years of seeing the future – granted him a certain, solid knowledge:

_The galaxy will go to war._

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place roughly 2 years before "The Phantom Menace"
> 
> Teyla Marin is 16 years old at this time


End file.
